The invention relates to an over-center hinge for the thin doors of cabinets, especially of mirrored cabinets for bathrooms, which has a cabinet door-related, flat part which is to be fastened preferably by cementing in a mating recess provided on the inside of the door, and which is articulated to a supporting arm which can be fastened to the door-supporting walls of the cabinet.
Hinges of this kind are known (e.g., German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,516,397), and they are widely used preferentially for mirrored cabinets for bathrooms. Separate ball catches or magnetic catches are needed in order to hold the mirrored doors in the closed position, because it is difficult on account of the small dimensions of the hinges, especially the extremely low profile of the door-related part, to provide an over-center mechanism, for example in the form of a resiliently displaceable tongue of the kind that has proven practical in the case of over-center hinges of the regular size having a cup-like door-related part for the mounting of wood doors (German Pat. No. 2,122,857). The small dimensions, particularly the meager depth of the door-related part, would, in the case of a mirrored cabinet hinge of the kind in question here, would inevitably result in such a reduction of the dimensions of all parts, especially the tongue of the over-center mechanism, that only extremely short closing travel could be achieved, which would necessitate the use of high spring forces for the bias of the tongue, because no appreciable leverage would be possible. Even if one should succeed in providing springs of the necessary force in the door-related part, the over-center mechanism would have to act directly and with difficulty, so that the especially desirable constant holding force, intensified within range of the closed position, would not be achieved in the above-mentioned known over-center hinges.